Official Speculation Thread (Pt. XLVIII"Preseason"Ed.)

RYgoBOOM · Post #101 » by **RYgoBOOM** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:39 pm

trebone wrote:^ no, I would rather have Redick at point than Harden

Is this a joke.....

Can't tell if serious

BadMofoPimp · Post #102 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:42 pm

Harden is fast as hell. I doubt there are that many SG's faster than him. I am not sure if he may be slow on defense. But, speed wise, I think he can rip by guys nicely.

Noonskadoodle · Post #103 » by **Noonskadoodle** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:45 pm

BadMofoPimp wrote:Harden is fast as hell. I doubt there are that many SG's faster than him. I am not sure if he may be slow on defense. But, speed wise, I think he can rip by guys nicely.

Harden is far from fast as hell....

He is crafty as hell, but def not fast.

RYgoBOOM · Post #104 » by **RYgoBOOM** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:46 pm

BadMofoPimp wrote:Harden is fast as hell. I doubt there are that many SG's faster than him. I am not sure if he may be slow on defense. But, speed wise, I think he can rip by guys nicely.

Agreed.

He is like 5x the athlete JJ is. JJ's problem is he has trouble creating off the dribble. How in god's name you take someone who can't create and stick him as a PG> a player who is extremely athletic and takes player off the dribble without blinking....idk.

I've watched a lot of Harden film, maybe that is why I think he's more capable than some make him out to be.

RYgoBOOM · Post #105 » by **RYgoBOOM** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:47 pm

Noonskadoodle wrote:
BadMofoPimp wrote:Harden is fast as hell. I doubt there are that many SG's faster than him. I am not sure if he may be slow on defense. But, speed wise, I think he can rip by guys nicely.

Harden is far from fast as hell....

He is crafty as hell, but def not fast.

He is extremely quick.....again, Idk what James Harden you guys watch lol.

Noonskadoodle · Post #106 » by **Noonskadoodle** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:50 pm

RYgoBOOM wrote:
BadMofoPimp wrote:Harden is fast as hell. I doubt there are that many SG's faster than him. I am not sure if he may be slow on defense. But, speed wise, I think he can rip by guys nicely.

Agreed.

He is like 5x the athlete JJ is. JJ's problem is he has trouble creating off the dribble. How in god's name you take someone who can't create and stick him as a PG> a player who is extremely athletic and takes player off the dribble without blinking....idk.

I've watched a lot of Harden film, maybe that is why I think he's more capable than some make him out to be.

I am a Harden fan, but his athletic ability is overrated. The guy has great strength & craftiness for a 2 guard that allows him to get where he wants.

RYgoBOOM · Post #107 » by **RYgoBOOM** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:52 pm

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWnp5Zg1eAQ[/youtube]

Twas due...lol

Blows by everyone with his first step. Creates his own shot 10x better than anyone on the magic lol

RYgoBOOM · Post #108 » by **RYgoBOOM** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 6:55 pm

Noonskadoodle wrote:
RYgoBOOM wrote:
BadMofoPimp wrote:Harden is fast as hell. I doubt there are that many SG's faster than him. I am not sure if he may be slow on defense. But, speed wise, I think he can rip by guys nicely.

Agreed.

He is like 5x the athlete JJ is. JJ's problem is he has trouble creating off the dribble. How in god's name you take someone who can't create and stick him as a PG> a player who is extremely athletic and takes player off the dribble without blinking....idk.

I've watched a lot of Harden film, maybe that is why I think he's more capable than some make him out to be.

I am a Harden fan, but his athletic ability is overrated. The guy has great strength & craftiness for a 2 guard that allows him to get where he wants.

I agree to an extent.

He gets by everyone because he is crafty as hell. But he is a extremely athletic dude. He doesn't blow by everyone with craftyness, he does that with explosiveness and quickness.

He can also jump out of the gym.....which isn't because he's crafty lol. Can't say that!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLMEaBzjs40&feature=related[/youtube]

Noonskadoodle · Post #109 » by **Noonskadoodle** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:03 pm

RYgoBOOM wrote:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWnp5Zg1eAQ[/youtube]

Twas due...lol

Blows by everyone with his first step. Creates his own shot 10x better than anyone on the magic lol

Was he really blowing by "everyone" in that video & creating his shot? I saw a lot of buckets on fast breaks & being set up by other guys driving & finding him for an alley or 3 ball.

Noonskadoodle · Post #110 » by **Noonskadoodle** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:10 pm

Like I said I am a James Harden fan & think he could do great things in our new offense with all the passing & cutting, but if the asking price is MAX no thanks.

OrlChamps2030 · Post #111 » by **OrlChamps2030** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:16 pm

James Harden has a deceptively quick first step.. Paul Pierce like. I definitely think he can shoulder the offense load on a team. I'm not sure why Harden's athleticism is being questioned. The only way he could be mismatched on the wing MAYBE is if the player has a significant height advantage, but I don't see athleticism being a problem.

Teams that are willing to win will pay whatever it takes for RFAs. If OKC wants to keep Harden they'll resign him, if not they'll trade him. No way they let him hit the open market though.

BadMofoPimp · Post #112 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:39 pm

Not trying to be negative and piss people off. Because, there is an "I want Harden" on every board of RealGM.

Well, the Pistons may have over $25 million to spend on FA next summer. If they wanted Harden, he could probably go with them.

Because, imagine playing with Drummond, Knight, Monroe, Stuckey, Jerebko, Prince. That would be a fairly exciting team to build with and still have cap room to add another role player. Heck, they could trade Stuckey and Jerebko in a sign n trade while taking on salary.

I just feel that Harden will make his decision within the next year. The Magic already have JJ and Afflalo. The Magic are not in the best position to move both and swing Harden at the same time. Especially, when there are many other teams in better position and glaring needs.

I will be very interested to see if Harden even leaves OKC instead of Westbrook then where he does land in the end.

Just saying. Try to be realistic and not set hopes up so high.

RYgoBOOM · Post #113 » by **RYgoBOOM** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:41 pm

Zmill wrote:James Harden has a deceptively quick first step.. Paul Pierce like. I definitely think he can shoulder the offense load on a team. I'm not sure why Harden's athleticism is being questioned. The only way he could be mismatched on the wing MAYBE is if the player has a significant height advantage, but I don't see athleticism being a problem.

Teams that are willing to win will pay whatever it takes for RFAs. If OKC wants to keep Harden they'll resign him, if not they'll trade him. No way they let him hit the open market though.

Agreed 100%

And People won't give Harden the MAX but everyone was so PRO Lopez's brittle bodied max contract?

:lol:

Noonskadoodle · Post #114 » by **Noonskadoodle** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:48 pm

RYgoBOOM wrote:
Zmill wrote:James Harden has a deceptively quick first step.. Paul Pierce like. I definitely think he can shoulder the offense load on a team. I'm not sure why Harden's athleticism is being questioned. The only way he could be mismatched on the wing MAYBE is if the player has a significant height advantage, but I don't see athleticism being a problem.

Teams that are willing to win will pay whatever it takes for RFAs. If OKC wants to keep Harden they'll resign him, if not they'll trade him. No way they let him hit the open market though.

Agreed 100%

And People won't give Harden the MAX but everyone was so PRO Lopez's brittle bodied max contract?

Can't say "everyone". I know so many people on this board that wanted NOTHING to do with that :lol:

Driguez · Post #115 » by **Driguez** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:07 pm

Harden will get the max, I hope it's not from us.

RYgoBOOM · Post #116 » by **RYgoBOOM** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:11 pm

When Harden is scoring 24+ on %'s of 50-40-80 I am going to quote my post and remind everyone of this!!! 8-)

warren4prez · Post #117 » by **warren4prez** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:41 pm

Harden is not going anywhere this will happen http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=9hfgy4n

Post #118 » by **Bensational** » Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:21 pm

IMO, Hennigan went after Afflalo for a reason. He knows Harden well, and he knows what OKC will want out of a replacement for him if they can't get him to sign for what they want to pay. And I'm pretty confident that those two sides are pretty far apart on that front.

Harden will be traded next summer via FA.

OrlandO · Post #119 » by **OrlandO** » Sat Oct 27, 2012 2:13 am

Some peeps still dreaming about Harden? I'd say chances are so slim that it's probably wise to not think about it...

Harden and the Thunder seem like they are going to reach a deal. Sources close to the situation say there is such a desire by Harden to end the speculation that he may cave on his max contract demands. What’s been said is that a heavily incentivized deal would be what gets it done, and that kind of deal could get Harden to max money if the Thunder continues to dominate in the West. The NBA counts “easy to achieve” incentives against the cap, however, incentives that are deemed hard to achieve, like making the Conference Finals or being named an All-Star do not count against the cap. This could be the loophole that gets Harden signed, simply because of how good the Thunder have been in the West. A deal isn’t a deal until both sides sign it and get it approved by the league, but there appears to be a real desire on all sides to end the circus that Harden’s impending free agency is causing and it seems the Thunder and their ownership are willing to lock James up now.

- 10/25 Hoopsworld

Post #120 » by **Bensational** » Sat Oct 27, 2012 2:34 am

OrlandO wrote:Some peeps still dreaming about Harden? I'd say chances are so slim that it's probably wise to not think about it...

Harden and the Thunder seem like they are going to reach a deal. Sources close to the situation say there is such a desire by Harden to end the speculation that he may cave on his max contract demands. What’s been said is that a heavily incentivized deal would be what gets it done, and that kind of deal could get Harden to max money if the Thunder continues to dominate in the West. The NBA counts “easy to achieve” incentives against the cap, however, incentives that are deemed hard to achieve, like making the Conference Finals or being named an All-Star do not count against the cap. This could be the loophole that gets Harden signed, simply because of how good the Thunder have been in the West. A deal isn’t a deal until both sides sign it and get it approved by the league, but there appears to be a real desire on all sides to end the circus that Harden’s impending free agency is causing and it seems the Thunder and their ownership are willing to lock James up now.

- 10/25 Hoopsworld

I'll believe it when he signs a deal. The fact they haven't reached a deal yet speaks volumes about how James perceives his worth, and how OKC perceive it.